Sandberg is responsible for online sales of Google’s ad and publishing products, bringing experience Facebook sorely needs. She is also politically savvy, having been the chief of staff at the Treasury Department in the Clinton administration.

“She has just about the most relevant industry experience for Facebook, especially since we need to scale our operations and scale them globally,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “And we also share the same values.”

Zuckerberg said there was never a formal search to find someone, but he had always been “looking for someone of Sandberg’s caliber.” They met at a Christmas party and Zuckerberg was impressed.

In addition, many Silicon Valley figures, including Facebook investor Roger McNamee, suggested Sandberg. “What was funny was that I was already thinking about her as a perfect person for this role,” Zuckerberg said.